Commentfic challenge on LJ
by tilleygirl
Summary: Entries from commentfic challenge on LJ. Prompts provided for each chapter
1. Chapter 1

Prompt – Jinx breaks a hip. Spoiler for S5

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><p>Marshall knocked lightly on the partially open door.<p>

"Come in," called the tired voice. He pushed the door open with an index finger and walked in, stopping well away from the bed.

Jinx turned to see her visitor. Mary's partner, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a stack of magazines in the other.

"Here," he said somewhat sheepishly, " I thought you'd like to look through these as you're somewhat a captive here." He handed her the magazines and laid the daisies on the bed. Jinx glanced at the titles: Glamour, American Dance, Oprah, Good Housekeeping, The Economist. Her eyebrows rose higher at each title. She looked speculatively up at her daughter's best friend. He was giving her more credit than Mary ever had.

"Thank you," she said. "This will help with the boredom. A word of advise: never break a hip. It's horrendous." She tried to shift herself to a more comfortable position. Marshall quickly stepped beside her and gently grasped her arms to reposition her.

"Mary said you fell at your studio?" He pulled the straightback chair that was by the dresser and placed it beside the bed, lowering himself gingerly.

Jinx nodded. "My pas de deux turned into a pax de don't. I don't recommend getting old either. It has distinct disadvantages." She fell silent a moment.

"Mary tells me congratulations are in order," she said quietly, watching him with a sharpness he wasn't used to seeing in Jinx.

Marshall tried to cover his surprise. He didn't think Mary would have mentioned his engagement to anyone. She hadn't exactly taken it well.

"You're surprised she told me," Jinx said. "You're Mary's best friend. Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Mary seems to think I'm making a mistake," he mumbled. That was putting it mildly.

Jinx nodded, then tilted her head to the side. "Do you love this girl?"

Marshall nodded. "Of course I do." A small note of irritation crept in.

"Do you love Mary?" Marshall stared at her, feeling the heat creep up his throat and into his face. "I've been a terrible failure as a mother. Wasn't there for my girls when they needed me. But there is one thing I know and that's men. And I know when a man is in love. And you've been in love for a long time. But it's not with the cheerleader. It's with my daughter. She's stubborn and scared and unlikely to admit her feelings, but listen to me Marshall. Mary loves you. And it terrifies her. So please promise me, you'll talk to her before you walk down the aisle."

Marshall spluttered. For only the second time in recent memory, he had no words. _Verbal impotence._

Jinx smiled at his thunderstruck expression. She tossed the blankets back and exposed her cast leg and hip. "Grab the pen over there and you can have the first honors," she said with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Prompt: anyone, carnival, "where the hell is my button"

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><p>Marshall cast concerned glances at Mary as he kept a firm hand on her elbow and guided her away from the gawking bystanders and flashing lights of the police cruiser. He looked back at the suspect sitting cuffed in the back seat. His gaze moved over to Delia, taking charge of Mary's witness.<p>

Mary was shaken up and Marshall skillfully wove his way through the throngs of people attending the carnival. The sounds of screams from kids on the rides, the smells of caramel corn and fried everything, the dead eyes of the carneys. All were taken into his awareness. Finally gaining the parking lot, his attention fully focused on Mary again.

Her torn shirt was testament to how close the knife had come to her. She tugged futilely at the edges, muttering "Where the hell is my button?"

Marshall gently tugged her fingers away, noticing for the first time, the small bubbles of blood under her clavicle. Cursing silently, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at it.

"I think the button was a casualty," he said grimly, the heel of his palm lightly grazing the curve of her breast. Mary looked up at him, a slight tremor running through her body.

"Are you sure you don't want to get checked out?" Mary's head was already shaking a negative.

"Take me home, Marshall."


	3. Chapter 3

Prompt: Mary/Marshall, Mary giving birth on the side of the road

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><p>Marshall slowed his exposition on the types of geologic rocks found in the foothills they were passing through and glanced over at Mary. It occurred to him that his partner had been very quiet the whole day. He eased off the gas pedal, slowed down and took a harder look at her face, taut and drawn.<p>

"Mary, are you okay?" he asked, quickly calculating how many more weeks until her due date. She grunted in response and Marshall's look of concern turned to alarm.

"My back has been hurting," she said tersely. Marshall noted the fine beads of sweat that were on her brow, the ashen color of her face. He pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the GMC.

"Low back?" he asked tightly, slipping out of his seatbelt. She nodded silently, gritting her teeth.

"How long?" Marshall was pulling out his cell phone.

Mary shrugged. "Few hours," she said, placing her hand on her swollen belly.

Marshall grasped her shoulder and turned her to face him. "How. Long." He enunciated slowly, trying to hold in his panic.

"Since this morning," she admitted reluctantly, then gasped in pain and doubled over.

"Marshall," she cried out, her hand flailing for his. He grasped her hand and squeezed.

"I'm here," he said, reaching over to touch her face. "You know what's happening, right?" Scared green eyes stared at him, then she bent over again. Marshall quickly dialed 911 and conducted a hurried conversation with the operator.

"Mary," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. "An ambulance is being dispatched, but it is going to be at least 45 minutes. Mary, how long have you been having labor pains?" She shook her head, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"I thought it was just my back. My back always hurts."

"It's okay," Marshall said, dismay pushed to the back of his mind by the clinical rundown of the emergency supplies he had in the truck. He drew in a deep breath.

"Let's get you more comfortable in the back seat." Mary shook her head, then cried out as another contraction rocked her body. Marshall checked his watch, and firmly grasped her arm.

"This isn't a request. I need you to move to the back seat while you still can."

"I am not giving birth in your car!" Mary's expression was one of mingled horror, terror and stubbornness.

"You many not have a choice. Unless you can reason with that kid and convince him to stay in there. You are well along in labor. I don't think you're going to last until the ambulance gets here. Mary please," his voice softened as he pleaded with her, "you need to move to the back. I can deliver this baby if necessary. I've gone through the training." Mary stared at him. "Just in case of something like this."

"I do not want you poking around down in my hoohaw!" Mary squawked, her cheeks turning pink.

"I don't want you or the baby dying out here in the hills," he said shortly, heaving her up out of the seat. She sat down heavily in the back.

"I'm scared Marshall," she whispered.

"I know," he said, leaning in to place a kiss on her forehead.

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><p>The ambulance arrived 32 minutes after being dispatched. The paramedics found a tall, distraught man with tears running down his cheeks and a woman wrapped in a blanket holding a small, squalling bundle.<p>

"Sir, move aside please. We need to check your wife." Marshall stepped aside in a daze, then froze as the paramedics gently took the baby from Mary and handed her to him.

"I'll check the baby in a moment, I need to make sure your wife is alright." Marshall gazed down at the tiny bundle in his arms, all squirming limbs and tiny red face puckered up from the effort of crying. He took in the marvel of her perfect features, even covered in slime and couldn't help the muffled sob that escaped him.

One of the paramedics turned from Mary and walked over to him, taking the baby and quickly checking her out.

"She's just perfect," he smiled at Marshall. "You have a beautiful little daughter." Marshall caught Mary's eye and grinned.

"We have a daughter."


	4. Chapter 4

Prompt: Mary/Marshall: flesh, heat, touch

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><p>The air tingled with electricity. Two sources, neither of which Mary felt comfortable about. One generated by nature; the approaching storm made her uneasy, as storms always did. The hair on her arms was standing up. Because of the storm she told herself. Not from the tension generated from the second source: the proximal nearness of her partner. Standing so close she could feel the warmth of his body, though no contact had taken place.<p>

Marshall hovered behind her, his solid build somehow enveloping her, casting an aura of protective security around her, while at the same time making her painfully aware – of him. She jumped as the sky was split by a blinding jag of lightening, her heart beating painfully fast. Warm hands gripped her shoulders, thumbs beginning a soothing circular rhythm, lightly tracing down her arms, his touch trailing heat. Flesh goosepimpled as cool air flowed over the exposed skin left in the path of his hands' journey down her arms to meet hers. Fingers entwined as the sky darkened and rain started to fall.


End file.
